SelectExplain

About

SelectExplain is an AI-powered Chrome extension that helps you understand content on any webpage without leaving the page. It adds a small floating helper to the bottom-right of the browser, allowing you to select text or capture a specific visible region of the page and get a clear AI explanation instantly.

The extension supports two main modes. In Text Mode, you can highlight any text on a webpage and get a concise explanation of what it means. In Image Mode, you can drag-select a specific area of the browser window, such as a chart, table, diagram, UI section, screenshot, or error message, and get an explanation of that selected visual region. This makes SelectExplain useful when the content is difficult to copy, visually complex, or easier to understand through a screenshot snippet.

SelectExplain also supports follow-up actions after the first explanation. You can ask a custom question about the selected text or captured image, expand the current explanation with more detail, copy the response to your clipboard, preview captured image snippets, and zoom into selected screenshot regions. The goal is to keep the explanation workflow simple: select what you want to understand, get the answer on the same page, and continue asking questions only when needed.

Security and data handling are important parts of how SelectExplain is designed. The extension does not run remote code, does not execute AI-generated scripts, and does not inject third-party scripts from external servers. It does not automatically collect full-page content, does not continuously monitor browsing activity, and does not send webpage data in the background. Content is sent for explanation only when you actively use Text Mode or Image Mode.

In Text Mode, only the text you manually select is sent to the configured AI provider. In Image Mode, only the screenshot region you manually drag-select is sent for analysis. SelectExplain does not use a developer-controlled backend server to store or process your selected content. Requests are sent directly to the configured AI provider, and your API key, model name, selected mode, and custom instruction preferences are stored locally using Chrome extension storage.

SelectExplain uses browser permissions only for its core functionality. Storage permission is used to save your local settings, clipboard permission is used only when you click the copy button, host access is used to display the helper on webpages and support selected text or screenshot-region capture, and OpenAI API access is used to send explanation requests when you ask the extension to explain something.

Because SelectExplain uses an AI provider to generate responses, selected text or captured screenshot snippets may be sent to that provider for processing. You should avoid selecting sensitive, confidential, regulated, or private information unless you are comfortable sending that content to your configured AI provider under their applicable terms and data policies.

SelectExplain is built for quick, controlled webpage understanding. It helps you explain what you select, analyze what you capture, ask follow-up questions, and copy useful explanations without switching tabs or manually pasting content into another tool.